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Poolblaster

Does anyone here have any real world experience with the pool blaster? I am considering getting one and have read tons of online reviews. Like normal they are split down the middle, one guy loves it the next guy says it is junk. It seems like it would be ideal for my small fiberglass pool and save me tons of time dragging out the vac hose.

Re: Poolblaster

Originally Posted by Thinkly

Does anyone here have any real world experience with the pool blaster? I am considering getting one and have read tons of online reviews. Like normal they are split down the middle, one guy loves it the next guy says it is junk. It seems like it would be ideal for my small fiberglass pool and save me tons of time dragging out the vac hose.

There are several here who have a Pool Buster (Blaster). I love mine. I use it in the shallow end of pool after the doggies have finished swimming (dragging in loads of sand and silt) and in the stand alone spa. I use the pool pole for the pool and a smaller expansion pole for the spa but one would do. I, also, sometimes use it while I am in the spa sans pole.

Don't pay for a separate, expensive fine bag. Women's stockings, hose, etc., work great. You just slip the hosiery over the rubber edge of bag and it secures well. The more robust/tightly woven the hosiery the finer particles will be caught but the faster the liner hose fills up. For my very fine silt I use women's heavy tights. That catches much of it. Many people's silt is not as fine as mine, though.

You will read many reviews complaining about the battery life. The simple solution is to not over charge the PB as there is no charge controller built in. Proper storage and position while stored helps to keep water out of the unit motor area.

The instructions for mine did not instruct to only charge for an a certain time and then remove from charger. I recently saw an online manual that did add that to user manual. I don't ever charge mine for over three hours.

If I am remembering right I think I was getting over 20 minutes per charge. I haven't yet used up a whole charge even cleaning up several bags worth in my pool. I don't charge it till I hear the pump slowing down or unless it has been stored for a while.

It does a better job at picking up finer debris than leaves but leaf sizes do vary so that has to be taken into consideration. I purchased mine at Costco. With their liberal return policy you can take it back if it doesn't work for you.

The main complaint I have is that it is hard for me to turn the knob that functions as on/off and also as a cover for the charger port. I keep a little adjustable wrench near me when using the cleaner to move the "switch".

Mine is not the Max version. With Max you should get longer operating time but you do pay for that as the price difference is significant.

Re: Poolblaster

OK..I'm new to pool ownership so go easy on me.........
I have a small 5000gallon 'fun' pool. It's only 110cm (43") deep. I have an integral 'wall hung' pump/filter unit with a 1hp motor.

My problem is that the intake for the water is on the bottom of the pump/filter unit. This is 2ft above the pool bottom. This type of unit is incapable of picking up any debris from the pool floor. Consequently dead algae just gathers on the bottom and when you swim it all gets kicked up and makes the pool look like milky water.

Now I cannot connect a normal pool vacuum (with all the hoses) and run this through my integral filter...it doesn't have the facility to do this. So I'm looking seriously at the Pool Blaster Max CG.
However like the original poster, I can't get reliable reports on it's effectiveness.......50% say its almost useless....50% love it!

Bearing in mind my situation, and if I add a very fine bag to filter the dead algae (what's best for this incidentally?) is it my best option?

Just to make thing worse.....my home is in a distant island province of the Philippines! I can't just ruin down to Costco and return it if it doesn't work.

Re: Poolblaster

Given your particular circumstance I'd suggest upgrading the filtration to a better system and get a regular suction vacuum. That's probably going to be your best option. However, if that's not possible then the blaster might be your only other option, and you'll just have to take a chance that it'll work for you.

Re: Poolblaster

Thanks B.R. but my system is only 3 months old so ripping it all out and starting again isn't an option (which I'd have to do to install any other filtration system).
I just need to wait and guage the reliability of PoolBlaster reports beofre I take the plunge (no pun intended).

Re: Poolblaster

I bought a Poolblaster Max and took it home to my small kidney shaped pool....charged it up....connected everything, complete with the extra-fine filter bag that came with it and tried it.
I had LOTS of dead algae forming powder-fine dust on the floor of my pool. (Simply walking close to this stuff would kick-up a cloud of creamy-white water).

The poolblaster max sucked it up easily enough.......but it went straight through the extra-fine filter bag and was blown out of the back end!
I ended up with a pool full of what looked like milky water! Not impressed.

Even the extra-fine bag they supply cannot deal with any dead algae sized particles. I can't for the life of me think why they don't supply a bag suitable for this. These bags are available in other sizes........what's the problem with supplying one that actually works!

As this is it's a complete waste of $240.....and yet for almost no extra $ it could be SO good.

Re: Poolblaster

I've had mine for 4 years now and love it. Mine will easily vac my entire pool without losing power with the exception of spring opening. I'd have to refer to my owners manual but I believe it goes to a trickle charge once the charge is complete. I have a tree line to the west of me and get tree "dirt" blown into the pool quite often and it works great for that--quicker than hooking up my regular vac. Like Lolo though I had trouble picking up super fine algae "dust."

Re: Poolblaster

I have one and I love it, but it does have its limitations. I use it to compliment my robot and to clean my spa. It beats the heck out of using the manual vac. I wouldn't use it as the only cleaning tool for the pool but does come in handy for the quick clean ups and great for my spa.

Re: Poolblaster

I have one also and it does the trick for me. I originally got the catfish, but it was too small to clean my pool (lots of trees and gunk). I upgraded to the Poolblaster the following year. I did have the motor go, that's a common complaint, right around the 1yr mark, but it was still within the 1yr warranty, so they replaced it no charge. This is my 4th season and other than the motor problem after the 1st, I haven't had any issues. My battery charge usually lasts an hour. The catfish only lasted 30min. They make a sand and silt bag for it that is sold separately, but I didn't want to pay $45 for it at Leslie's. I just saw that you can purchase the sand & silt bags and microfilter bags directly from watertech,http://store.watertechcorp.com/-strs...Categories.bok. Maybe that would help with picking up the fine silt.

Re: Poolblaster

I have one recommended by Leslie's. Like many things they recommend, it is totally a piece of junk. I tried the bag comes with it first. The dirt went right through the bag. The water became cloudy. Then, after a while it settled back to the bottom of pool. It is like giving a good exercise to those dirt and sediments. Then, I thought I needed a finer bag to get that dirt and sand. It was the same thing. I saw dirt and sand running right it. By the way, the bag is very very expensive.

The only use of it I can think of is spot cleaning on big things, like leaves. It may work well with a spa, but don't expect it to pick up sands or dirt.

I would suggest you get a small automatic robot cleaner if your pool is small. It is much better than that.

Re: Poolblaster

I'm thinking of buying a larger super-fine vacuum bag (like they have in the newer type automatic robot cleaners which filter down to a few microns) and cutting it up and re-stitching to fit the poolblaster max. This may be a cheapish way of getting several bags out of 1 larger one.
If it works I'll let you know (after patenting the idea and making my fortune )

Re: Poolblaster

Re-read what geekgranny said. She uses womens hose/stockings/tights. I bought the silt bag and superfine socks that go into it but I bet the hosiery idea would work just as well. Pretty cheap alternative, too.

Re: Poolblaster

i have poolblaster cg and it picks up dirt fine and keeps it in the bag, i have two different bags, both keep dirt in.

i don't use it much as its limited in effectiveness, i bought it for my spa end and for the stairs. its doesn't do much on the stairs and limited effectiveness in the spa. i basically have to take off the rubber head part and then i can actually suck up the stuff i need to in the places i need to.

Re: Poolblaster

Pool-blaster is the golden idea to have indoor as well as outdoor pool clean and clear. Public pool need to be take care due to risk of infection as well as pool for personal purpose or family leisure pools, hey both need to have proper sanitation hygiene.
Thanks for sharing this information here.

Re: Poolblaster

Please delete never. He's a spammer.

Scott

Owner of - PoolGuyNJ LLC
Expert Pool and Spa Repairs, Renovations, and Augmentation. Helping people decide what is the right gear for meeting their needs. Expectations Set, Expectations Met, No Surprises.

Re: Poolblaster

I will add my experience. When I bought my PB it was because of dead algae on the bottom of the pool. I had the same experience others have reported of some of it going right through the bag that came with it. Then I purchased from the manufacturer the sand and silt bag which you put inside the one it came with. This worked much better. Since I started BBB and got my original green swamp under control I don't have to deal with the dead algae. But, I do have to deal with dirt. I have fine dirt particles in the form of dust blown in and they settle to the bottom. The PB with the sand and silt bag inserted works great at picking up this dirt. It is the only thing I have found other than the regular pool vacuum that I have found that will pick up the dirt. What it does not do is pick up my leaves. It is strong enough to pick them up, but they get stuck in the small openings. I have a Polaris turtle that takes care of the leaves and I bring out the PB about once a week to get the dirt.

If your filter will catch the dead algae then what you could do is just get the kids in there with the filter running and have them stir it up. If you follow the advice in pool school and here on treating your water you will not have a continual problem with dead algae sinking to the bottom. So once you get it filtered out it should not be happening again.

Re: Poolblaster

I love my Pool Buster CG my first one lasted 4 years and then it gave out. Working on my second PB CG was disappointed that the newer version didn't have the quick charge that my old CG had. Two season on the second one and still going strong. I hardley ever pull out the hose to do a regular vaccum. Great product!

I get at least 1 hour of use before the battery starts to loose it's charge. Which for me is 3-4 complete cleanings.